So, two people in the healthcare industry will launch a podcast to let patients and providers know about cutting-edge drugs coming out of the state. It is called patient innovation. Podcast hosts Rashmi Kandwal and Mary Maccarthy have just joined me. Thank you both for today.
Mary McCarthy: Thank you for welcoming us.
Nina Moni: Absolutely.
Rashmi Kandwar: Thank you, Nina.
Nina Moni: Absolutely. Rashmi, I want to start with you. You are in the organization, Healthcare Minnesota. Could you tell us a little about the organization's focus and how you wanted to create this podcast?
Rashmi Kandwal: Certainly. Healthcaremn is a nonprofit based here in Minnesota. And our work focuses on accelerating health innovation. And we do things to host events throughout the year. I have a pitch forum.
We are holding events focusing on innovation themes like AI in healthcare. We do panels, fireside chats, and a lot of other things. And last year we wanted to start focusing on the patient side of things, but this wasn't the core of the original. And that's how it became like a podcast.
Initially, we were blog posts highlighting the story and founders of the startup. And Mary and I did this podcast together. And she also thought to shed light on the patient side of things, to humanize health a bit, and to highlight the groundbreaking work that is happening in our state.
That's how patient innovation was born, and we invite three guests each month to talk about health innovation from three different angles, focusing the light on the patient's side, where we talk about different health conditions.
And we also bring in clinical works and doctors who talk about treatment and innovation. And the third guest is the Healthcare Innovator or Research Foundation, who talks about the latest and greatest things in the field.
Nina Moni: It's okay. So, Mary, do you tell me a little about your background as well, and why did you come up with this idea?
Mary McCarthy: Certainly. So I have to say, I started a career working in HR on Minnesota Public Radio –
Nina Moni: Ah, amazing.
Mary McCarthy: – 37 years ago.
Nina Moni: Great.
Mary McCarthy: Yeah, a long time. Yes, so it's a bit of a thrill to be at this show with you. Thank you for inviting me.
Nina Moni: Absolutely.
Mary McCarthy: Yes. So after MPR I worked for many of the major Minnesota companies, including 3M, Medtronic and the University of Minnesota. However, I was always called to venture capital, venture startup space. And it took me a while for my career to actually take me where I am today.
I am currently the COO of Medical Device Imaging Startups and coach many CEOs who are primarily focused on women and underrepresented CEOs, navigate regulatory and business requirements to launch successful startups in Minnesota, bringing more innovation to the state and more quickly innovate.
So I'm excited to do this podcast with Rashmi. And we have celebrated about 1,100 podcast downloads so far for patient innovation. So we have really got a great listenership.
Nina Moini: I can't say I've heard a podcast that takes all of these people to one room, provider, doctor, patient. And I don't hear much from patients in this type of environment. Mary, why did you focus on patient advocacy for you?
Mary McCarthy: Because all innovations should start with the patient. And most of it does. What are the patient's needs? What is the gap between what is available in the market and what is best suited to the needs of clinicians and patients?
So, can you start by focusing on the patient's story and hear what the symptoms you had? What was the patient's journey through the health care system? What is Outlook looking for today? But we really spend a lot of time talking about hope. Why is hope important? What are you looking forward to?
And you can't tell you how many times you actually shed tears in your eyes when you hear a patient talk about your journey. And we are very grateful that the researchers who devote their time and precious energy to research are studying the root cause of this.
Nina Moni: Rashmi, Mary mentioned hope. Do you want to know that even if you're listening to topics that don't apply to you, you still want your patients to be able to get out of this podcast? I don't have that illness or anything, but people still managed to take something out of the conversation. Do you want it to be from a patient's perspective?
Rashmi Kandwal: Our hopes, like you said, maybe a friend would do so, even if you don't have that illness. So our hope is probably someone who needs it. Perhaps you can send it to them, forward it to them, learn not only about the patient's stories, but also about the innovations that are happening today.
Diabetes, for example, did an episode. And we talked about this latest innovation that is coming to the market. Perhaps more people would want to know about the innovations that are happening.
It is also a space that provides a platform for all three different areas of the patient's story and also provides a voice for the doctor. There are many wonderful hospitals. I worked with my doctor on this podcast. I brought a doctor from Mayo, CMC, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Fairview.
You can't ask what these doctors are doing. So, at that angle, some doctors are excited to share stories as they spend most of the time treating patients in closed rooms when they come in.
So it's exciting to hear them either talking about their challenges, or just talking about what they want to see, what needs to change. So, it's exciting for us to introduce voices from these three different perspectives on one platform.
And hopefully, we're giving hope not only for patients about the latest innovations, but also for the startup community in general, and hearing and hearing different stories from people innovating there. And maybe it gives them energy to do more in space.
Nina Moni: That's true. And if Mary, medical professionals and different stakeholders were hesitant to come and share with us on the podcast, would I want to know? Were you nervous at first? What was the response?
Mary McCarthy: From a patient's perspective, it was relatively easy to find a patient because researchers understand the value of telling patients about their journey.
For researchers, it is the way they emphasize their particular practice. But they also use it a little for their own marketing as they want. And for funders and startups, they're being touted a bit about what they're doing and how they're contributing to the healthcare industry.
But one of the most important and satisfying parts of this is how beneficial it was for patients to tell their stories and help other patients who have been diagnosed recently or who may be medically struggling with the same challenge.
In order for them to use their voice and learning to give hope to others, we continue to receive messages from patients who have appeared on the show about how meaningful it is for them to tell their stories and contribute.
Nina Moni: Yes. Mary, here's my last question. You mentioned how wonderful it is to be able to share a story. But for those listening patients, do you have any general or comprehensive advice on defending themselves in the medical world?
Mary McCarthy: Ah, my goodness. That's definitely one of the things we hear from patients over and over again, and clinicians and startups have to really defend for yourself. There is a lot of information you can find online about specific signs. And there are Facebook groups that you can go for specific things you may have.
But I hope that with these specific conditions, this little podcast has the resources you can go to for more information, such as the Parkinsons Association's American Diabetes Association, to help people become humanized, to help them feel lonely, and to help them go to.
All of those people appear on the podcast. And they are very generous in sharing resources available to diagnosed patients and their families.
Nina Moni: It's okay. Thank you Mary and Rashmi, for sharing your time and your work with us. I'm really grateful.
Rashmi Kandwal: Thank you.
Mary McCarthy: Thank you very much. That was a joy.
Nina Moini: It was Rashmi Kandwal and Mary Maccarthy, hosts of Healthcaremn's Patient Innovation Podcast.
